Too often frugality is confused with being cheap or cutting corners just to save a penny. We want to interrupt those ideas. We believe the future of frugality is values based spending, intentionality with finances, and stewarding all resources well. On this episode we invite Christine Platt, Leslie Oldanie, and Chris Browning to help us cast vision for the future and find the freedom to create a lifestyle that works for us!
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Episode one seven, The Future of Frugal Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, rights, and liver with your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Mmmmmm, welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we are super excited to share with you a few of the interviews, parts of the interviews that we are presenting at the Future of Frugal Summit that may help you figure out or explore why we are hosting the summit in the first place and if you could benefit from attending. Mm hmm, Yeah, kind of like a sneak peek, a little behind the scenes, a little inside and new some of our favorites. Although we have so many speakers, so this is literally just a little treat. Yeah, literally twenty speakers, and these are just snippets parts of three of our favorite interviews. So before we get into them, let's thank our sponsors, of course, the Future of Frugal Summit. So over four days we're bringing together, like we just said, twenty expert speakers for this free virtual event to help make changes that promote choosing frugality. Enthusiastically, not just as a means to an end. Frugality is a choice, and when it becomes a habit, you can save money without thinking. But to make it a habit, we wanted to be enjoyable, you know us, We like fun things. So get your free ticket and virtual goodie bag at Frugal Living Summit dot com. Again, it's Frugal Living Summit dot com. It's free, it's online, and we'll see you in the private Facebook group. Absolutely. This episode is also brought to you by event planning. Event Planning is definitely harder than you might think, especially if you've never done it before. That's why I didn't actually have a sponsor written down for this episode, because I've been so busy sending emails and uploading videos and writing outlines and sending more emails and creating the goodie bag and uploading all these amazing, amazing products into the all access pass that I actually just didn't have time to write a sponsor for this episode. And so like, I'm coming real off the cuff. So if you respect event planners in any fashion or form, in person or virtual, then do me a real solid and go to for Goal Living Summit dot com and sign up for a free ticket to the future frugal I'm sweating. That was so good. Sweating not out of nervousness, just out of shock and awe produced a visceral effect in me. And wow, Jen, I mean you have been crushing it with this summit and crushing it with that sponsor. Yeah, crushing it is definitely how it feels. I don't know if I am on top of the crush or I am beneath it tbd. But so if you'd like to see all that goes into it, definitely head to Frugal Living Summit dot com. Get your free ticket and you will not be sorry. And if you are sorry, send me an email. My assistant will get it and she might delete it. I'm sorry that will not happen. We don't have the space for I mean anyways, So the future of frugal Like we've said before, the registration is open, and so what we wanted to do is create another place where you frugal friends listeners could come and hear from more trusted experts because we talk about a very niche section in personal finance, but we also realized frugality we our whole people and our finances. We should focus on all parts of our finances, not just saving money. That's a part where frugal people can get caught up on is we just think about the saving and we don't think about the earning or the investing or the consequences some of our purchases might have. So we believe not only are we whole people, but we have a whole planet, ecosystem economy to not worry about. But like that we impact. So this summit is really in fired by that idea. And how do we change from frugality being how do I use the most coupons and get the best rebate apps too? How do I become a conscious consumer who's proud of the way I spend money, I make money and I invest money? Well said John, I should just add a logistical disclaimer that these interview clips are coming from Zoom Recording. So if the audio sounds a bit different than what than the high high quality you're accustomed to hearing out of the Frugal Friends podcast, that's why. So you'll still be able to hear it. It'll be good content, just the audio might sound a little different than you're used to other than the weeks I forget to turn on my mic and I record via the computer. Sweet sweet audio quality other than those weeks. So the first interview portion we want to play for you is from Christine Platt, and she's also known as the Afro Minimalist, and she wrote a book that is out now called The Afro Minimalists Guide to Living with Less, and she gave one of the most beautiful definitions of minimalism I've ever heard. What did you think about this one, chill Christine, she was, well, this is why we're highlighting it. She was one of my personal favorite interviews, and I think collectively are one of our favorite interviews. And I think she just really gave such a different perspective specifically on minimalism that was super refreshing. Yeah, that we don't have to abide by the I don't want to say like male centric, but like very it can almost seem masculin sometimes of the single chair and the single table and the white walls, but like, you can make it your own. So enjoy this clip of Christine kind of redefining what it looks like to be a minimalist. I'm so inspired by the way that you're describing already that you made it your own and and this combination, even just in your introduction, like these are the things that are purposeful and that make me me. And also I'm a minimalist, and the blending of that and the meaning behind it not just I don't like stuff. I'm not sentimental. Therefore, okay, call me a minimalist, but no, I've given my life to this topic and different subjects and have found what works for me. Can you speak more to this aspect of how you came to make it your own? Yes, I'm so do you said that, because this is what I tell folks all the time who are trying to live with less or be minimalist or whatever name they want to frull go whatever they want to call themselves. You know, you really have to do it your own way. And I I learned that the hard way. I tried to really marra a lot of the images that I saw on Pinterest and on Instagram, and like my house was just like everything was white, everything was baren and I was like, this is so miserable. I hate it here, right, And so I ended up like really just having to make it my own. And I tell people all the time that is the only way that I was able to make living with less work for me. And sort of the tagline that I came up with surrounding that is, I tell people all the time, remember authenticity over aesthetics, right, so caught up in the aesthetics of minimalism, how many things we should have, how our place should look, what colors, right, and it's like, ah, authenticity is where the real you is when it comes to living with less, and once you focus on authenticity over aesthetics, like, it's just a beautiful practice. I love that. That's so beautiful authenticity. Yeah. I mean we feel it like with frugality and minimalism because they don't always align. Like I describe myself as like a minimalist with a packet drawer, so like we have like stuff from the thrift store and stuff and it doesn't all match, but it's like all affordable and then there's not much of it. So it's like this is great like feeling. It's so feels unique and like that feels good. Yeah, And I mean that's your own authentic style, right, and it and it works, and so you know, I really try and get people to understand that, you know, minimalism living with less all of these things. They it's really a journey of self discovery, right, and you're going to discover so many things about yourself. For me, it was yes, of of course I knew that, you know, I love the history and beauty of the African diaspora, right like this, These were my majors in college, But like, I didn't realize how important it was to me and how much it influenced my home and my space until I went on this journey of self discovery of like getting rid of all of the things that don't work for me, right and so um so yeah, I mean, I feel like it's a lifestyle that is available to everyone. Again, if they focus on authenticity over aesthetics. You focus on aesthetics, you're gonna lose out every time because all of our lives are different, right, and so like to expect that everyone's home is going to fit this sort of Pinterest board is just not realistic. You know, seriously, I've got to write this down. It's such a beautiful quote. I think we talked about freedom a lot. How there's there's freedom in frugality and animalism and simple living. Make it work for you, and that is still true, but I think what you're saying blends well with that. It's two coinciding ideas of how we get at that freedom that exists for us in all of these spaces. It doesn't have to look just one way. We have to make it personal. We've got to make it work for us. And absolutely what a beautiful kind of banner over our homes and the freedom that we can have it in our homes and in our lives and wherever we kind of interact and engage this this concept of authenticity. Thanks for sharing that with us, And I feel like it's applicable, like you said, to every area of your life, right like, leading with authenticity, leading with intention, right Like, those are the things that are going to bring you joy. And it just becomes I feel like, once you go through that journey of self discovery and you start to feel those feelings, like you want to keep feeling it, So it's not it doesn't become like people are like to get harder. I'm like, no, I guess so much easier, Like it gets so so much easier because now you know, right, and you want to hold onto those to those feelings and you know again, I mean I also think that it it really helps me remain intentional with my minimalist practice and what I allow into my life, because if i'm you know, if I'm leading with authenticity, I'm gonna you know, like I really don't like that. Thank you for offering me that gift, but that doesn't you know, it doesn't serve me. I'm not going to use it right like you just it just becomes just sort of like this essence of who you are and in the decisions that you make. So absolutely yeah, and I love that the journey taught you about yourself. It's not like just making minimalism about who you are, but actually finding who you are and like finding the real you. I tell people that all the time. I'm like, so, I know you think you're going into this that like you're either trying to you know, declutter your closet, your girl, you know, get your home in order. But I'm like, it literally transforms every area of your life. There's no way that you can be intentional with your wardrobe or intentional with what you have in your living room and be like Okay, that's it. You know, It's like end up being intentional with every area of your life. And I feel like that's where that process of self discovery is, right, Like, you know, maybe it does start in your closet and you you know, you're like, what do I really wear? What silhouettes do I really gravitate towards? Why do I have so many of these? Right? Like, you start this process of self discovery and then like it just it literally like takes over your life. There's no way, I promise you, there's no way you can just be intentional with your wardrobe. Absolutely. I still love that one so much. And we didn't even hear the whole clip. There's so much rich goodness and all of what Christine talks about. In our interviews, they are a bit more short form, so each of the interviews are a digestible thirty minutes, which is great. Actually most of them are thirty minutes because most of them are most of them are, let's be honest, but still, I mean, if you have a lunch break, still long enough for you to go heat up your lunch, come back listen and then get back to work, like totally fine, or listening in the morning while you're getting ready for work. But I love Christine's take, like incorporating the African diasporas, something that she is super passionate about. Like I've I've seen some of the children's books that she's written, and she's a beautiful writer, and like she writes from the heart, and so I don't know why we think sometimes we have to separate our heart from our stuff. Maybe because we, I mean, we're coming out of this this phase where we're trying to keep up with the jone is and then you're like, no, stuff isn't important, So we're going into this other realm where you shouldn't care about your stuff. But like there has to be some kind of happy medium where you can love your home and you can love your stuff, you can just have less of it and find your identity elsewhere. Yeah, I think she uses the term authenticity over aesthetic. It's not just about how does this look to everybody else? Is it authentic to me? The life I live, the style I prefer, all of these things, And she really drives that home and it's so much freedom, which we always love. A message that incorporates freedom and just a refreshing take on this concept of minimalism. So I think hers is definitely want to attend. Yeah, just all the talk about authenticity is just yes, it's so real. I think the future of frugal is more authenticity, less recreating what others have done, less recreating what may have worked for somebody else, and really doing the hard work of digging into what's going to work for me. And like when you do the hard work up front, then you can benefit later on. You have to do less work later on. And I think in Lisa's celebides uh talk on the same day her interview, we talked about this as well, and hers is all about decluttering, so that one is also great. So and Christine also talks about the psychology of ownership later in the interview. We didn't even like include that, So yeah, definitely one to include. So onto our our next one. What do we have next? Jill Laura Old Danny. This is a fun one because not only is Laura a fellow St. Petian. I don't even know if that's a term, but I think they say that. I think that is something. She also was again St. Pete, Florida, which is where ND and I live, So that was fun for me, especially being a new SAT patient and who I even said to you before we started recording. Jen this one. I keep using this term refreshing, but there's no better word for me right now and today you literally say that in the clip we're about to play, that is a cool drink of water. So it was then and it is now. We hope it is to you all. I don't even I don't want to steal much of Laura's thunder that you're about to hear. Just know that it is, for me, at least, a relatively new concept that I have been pondering since this interview of looking at wealth with a completely different lens, not necessarily altogether detached from our typical understanding of wealth, just enlarging our understanding of well, making it more accessible and giving us more ways to attain that in our lives, and as it relates to frugality. So there's so much I want to say, but I feel like Laura says it best, and I'd love for her to just have a floor on it. Yeah. Well, I mean I'm not gonna say anything else. Enjoy Laura. Ol Danny. So you talk about different forms of capital, can you tell us about that? What does that mean? What are you seeing? Sure? And to back it up a little bit and explain that I was introduced to this concept of multiple forms of capital through perma culture and perma culture I describe it as a design science that looks to nature and it's closed loop, abundance based no waste model, you know system as the model. And so through my diving into permacual Sure and its teachings, I was exposed to what in the perma culture space is referred to as the eight forms of capital. And so that's just the way it's discussed in perma culture. But this concept exists beyond that. In fact, there is a community capital's framework that has been put together. So communities, you know, when they're there, they don't have a lot of financial resources, often rural communities, they will look to these non monetary forms of capital to recognize the wealth and resources that already exist in their midst They're just not in the form of dollar signs. And so I'll talk through each of the eight forms of capital very briefly, just to give people an overview of what they are. And the first one is the one we all know and deal with most, and that's financial capital. Our money are you know, national currencies, stocks, and bonds, that's all in the financial currency space. Then we have material capital. So these are the more tangible things like the laptops were using too in our microphones that we're using to communicate with each other, our homes, are cars, any of the hammers or shovels that we're using, the rocks, these physical tools, these are material capital. Then we have um intellectual capital. So that's the knowledge. That's the books behind me that I read to gain. Um. You know, the books are material, but the information, the knowledge I gained from them is intellectual capital. So if I read about how to fix a bicycle, for example, if I want to change my own tire or something like that, repair something on my bike, I read about it. Then I go out to my bike and actually physically do the work to replace the tire or repair it. That's experiential capital. I'm out there doing it. I'm gaining that experience. So experiential capital are those skills. And it's not just the physical skills though it's your podcasting skills. It's all the skills we learn when we learned how some to do something new. This talent stack of skills that we have. So that's experiential capital, spiritual capital. So you know, it could be your religious faith if you're religious. It could be your yoga practice if you practice yoga. It's just how you connect with the universe is your spiritual capital. Then we have living capital. So that's the water, the trees, the gardens, the fruit trees in our yards, the parks near us that we go out to when we go to national parks and we're out there taking in all of that beautiful nature. That's living capital. We also have cultural capital. Cultural capital is our shared capital of songs, movies, a common hiss three. Food is a great example, ethnic foods, the foods that we share as different cultures. And then social capital, and so social capital is you know, we're building a little bit of social capital right now just having this conversation and building the connections with the people at the summit, who are you know, engage you know, watching us have this conversation. It's when you get a job because you have a connection to someone. It's when a hurricane comes through St. Petersburg and you don't have your own generator but you've lost power, but your neighbor next door has a generator and lets you plug in your refrigerator or a fan or something. So that's social capital. And so those are the eight forms of capital, these non monetary forms of capital. And if we if we think about it, the financial capital, which we all focus on, we focus on it because it's a means of exchange and it's our access point to the other forms of capital. It's not that we want dollar bills because we like to stack them up and like, you know, make a statue out of them because they're so beautiful, or there's some other intrinsic yes, and even though you're so your yes, colorful currencies are certainly more engaging visually, but even then, primarily we want we want them because we're going to exchange them, and there are gateway and access point to these other forms of capital. And so in terms of your frugal friends audience, you know, I really think if we we get so focused and drawn into getting that financial capital in our lives, and what are we going to do? How are we going to trade our time or set up our passive income streams to get it? But we can also focus more on how do we just go directly get these other forms of capital, these non monetary forms of capital, without needing to trade our life energy for money. And again you know, as I mentioned before, and how do we move more into that producer versus consumer role and have that more fulfilling opportunity to solve our own problems. Money just robs us of the opportunity to use our creativity so often because we're so busy, so trapped in the system, that we can't think about how to get these other forms of capital without money. And for example, I needed a new shower curtain rod and I really did not like the idea of going out to a store. And and certainly saving money is a good thing, and that was part of it, But just one more shower curtain in the world. Does someone really, you know, need to buy another shower curtain and use those resources? There was so much an energy that went into producing it. Where is it going to go? You know, when I'm done with it, it's you know, it's just gonna end up in a landfill or here in our county and an incinerator polluting the air. So I could, you know, I was trying to find one at a thrift store, a garage sale, and I just wasn't finding one. And finally I looked outside my window and I saw that I have this beautiful slender bamboo growing in my yard, and I thought, hot, damn that with my shower occurred and rod and it was beautiful piece of nature that I've brought into my bathroom that already happens to be green and brown colored anyways. And I just love the feel of this natural product, you know, that was completely free, that's completely renewable. Bamboo grows, you know, like anything. So just because I did not go out and spend the money, I gave myself to have the opportunity to have that ah ha moment and get such a better product for myself in the end. I love that concept because we've always said that frugality, I mean, most of it is just getting creative. It's not being inconvenienced. It's not at the expense of others living like it's not negative. It's just forces you to get creative. And so the fact that you're like reiterating like money robs us of our natural ability to be creative. And it's such a wild like thought to meditate on the social worker inside of me is like leaping at everything yet describing I honestly, I've not heard of, you know, the eight forms of capital before you and yet it's it's not unfamiliar concepts either, And I think it just put it puts vocab to what I think a lot of us do experience. I mean, when there was a time when my husband and I made very little money, I mean by American standards, we were below the poverty line, and yet I felt wealthy. I didn't think like, oh, where where's my next meal coming from? I mean, thank goodness, I was very blessed in that situation. And and I would say, like, we have family and friends who are supporting us, like I still do have a form of transportation. And I think you're putting words to why I felt that way. And I think even beyond that, not not just looking back, but also looking forward for what are our standards for whether or not where we are wealthy or happy or content. There's so much more to look at, and I think you've just broadened the horizon on that. And so thank you for that terminology and vocabulary that we can be focusing on. And as Jen said, meditating on, I'm excited about it. Who there, there it is, there's your cool drink of water. It's it's hard to find, I especially especially in the hot, hot hate of a Florida summer. I again, there's more to be said on this one, and Laura's interview goes on for longer than the clip that we just shared with you. Again, it's just a little tasty treat. Come join us at the summit. But my goodness, those eight forms of capital that she talks about and describes are so amazing, and each one you could dig into for hours and hopefully one of them at least as we walk away, even from this episode, we can consider for our lives now, which one do I want to be focusing on right now? How can I do that? How can I form these other types of wealth and capital in my life? Absolutely, this idea of the eight forms of capital, it just feels like it's holistic capital. And we always focus on financial but not everybody is in a place where or a season in their life where they have great amounts of the financial capital. But that doesn't mean you don't have to work on that, but it also means that maybe you have the space to get creative with other forms of capital. And I really feel like there are so much more fulfilling than the financial capital aspect. I mean the fact, like when she was like, we use financial capital in order to buy all the other types of capital, And I'm like, why don't we just go straight to the other forms? That blew my mind Actually, while we were talking to her, so I am, so these interviews aren't just for our listeners. They are absolutely We've never made that a secret that we have people on the show that we like. Um, And it's for our benefit, and then we try to ask questions will benefit our listeners. But we tend to put ourselves first anyways. Um. But so Laura, I mean, she's a rich and resilient living. She she coaches people how to build wealth through the eight forms of capital, and she goes into more of the logistics on how we can invest more consciously. And I mean when I first met Laura was unsure of her methods. But I think there's can be this beautiful balance of take what works for you and leave what maybe is uncomfortable, and stretch yourself a little, get a little creative. But you don't have to jump off a ledge. But if these are things you care about, you can and should have the freedom to stretch yourself get creative in the capacity that works for you. Yeah, I think that that's one of the things we do see and you all who join us will see with the summit. Even it's not it's not everybody out there who's talking about frugality and personal finance. But it's a nice collection. But each one has differing perspectives, not that anyone is in direct conflict with another, but there are different ways to approach this. There are different flavors, different identities found within the frugal Journey, and I think it it gives this menu to be able to pick and choose from, to find what flavor works for you, what makes the most sense for you. And so yeah, like you're saying, journey doesn't have to be I have to co sign to every single thing that's presented to me. I can see, oh, what do I feel aligned with, what resonates with me and create my own frugality that works for me and be a part of a larger community. That's the goal, That is the major goal. So our last snippet that we will play for you is of our good friend Chris Browning, who has been on the show before, but not with me, with you and Allison, Sorry Jim, Yeah, but I finally got to interview him. Been a long time dream, and he talks about protecting wealth when you're just starting to build it. Like, we know our audience is predominantly in those beginning stages, paying off debt, saving an emergency fund, and getting started with investing. So we know that's where you guys are, and that is who we are really speaking to. So if that's you know that we made this entire event for you, it's not you still think you can get stuff out of it, but we made it for people who are earlier on the journey. And we find that a lot of people neglect setting up the basics of wealth protection in because they have this mindset of I don't have money, I don't have to protect anything. And so we just go into a really great reframe in this interview that I love and will continue to use. Yeah, I just will second. I admire Chris so much. I did enjoy interviewing him alongside Allison, and we've been on his podcast as well. But I think Chris can speak expertly on so many topics that, Yeah, this is just one of a plethora of things that you could seek out Chris's insight and perspective on, and so this is different there's a different topic than what we talked about with him on previously in the podcast, and so I found it so helpful to hear from Chris, particularly on what you're describing gen of what does this mean, especially for us in our beginning stage, is how can we start thinking about this proactively rather than reactively, And Chris gives us a great framework for that. So I'm excited for you to hear this snippet and hopefully hear the whole thing at the summit. Regardless of our income levels, we interact with finances. We need to make decisions around money and hopefully wise ones that will set us up for the future that we want to see for ourselves. And certainly wealth is a part of that conversation. And it even feels it feels like a funny word to even say, especially like the future of Frugal or the Frugal Friends talking about wealth. But I think it needs to blend. We need to be able to pair this and know that this is a part of the equation. It can be attained um or aimed at at least. So all that to say, I think a lot of people don't consider protecting their wealth like that feels like some thing for the like one to five percent of the population, because we often don't feel like we have it a lot of times. That's the entry into frugality is well, I'm frugal because I don't have any money. I think the future of frugal we're hoping we we shift those scales a little bit. It's not just about how much you do or don't have, but lifestyle choices you want to make anyhow, that's the whole tangent. But what do you see, Chris, of the benefit of considering protecting wealth early on, even if I don't feel like I have it, why might this be beneficial to just start to think, start to put on my radar. You know, I think with a lot of areas of our lives, not just even in the finance and the wealth building side of our lives, there's rules for a lot of stuff that are already in place, typically their laws that are you know, governed by your your state or or the federal government. And just because you decide that you're not going to worry about it, be like, oh, you know, I just doesn't concern me and it's is of life I'm in now. Doesn't mean that if something were to happen, you wouldn't have to buy by whatever rules are already sitting out there for you. So, when it comes to protecting your wealth or just protecting the things you own or your wishes for your future and your life, if you don't have control over it at the time, there are laws in place for who gets to decide these decisions for you. And if you don't take the time to be a little proactive and maybe look into ways that you can make the decisions for your the things you do have or for your family, someone else will making for you. And so I think that's why it's so important to think about these things now, make plans, to think about how you want your future to look, how you want things you've you've worked hard to accumulate, even if you don't think there are a lots you've accumulated something, and it's important to be the one to be able to make those decisions for yourself about I think even considering the word wealth, it starts to put you in a different trajectory of oh, it like life might be able to look different, and what are the things I need to be considering. You're bringing up a really in a sting component of that. What are the laws and rules and regulations around where I currently am that would allow me to build a more sustainable lifestyle and maybe haven't been of money in savings and aim at Yeah, just more wealth to do with what you want to do with that. And we can have bad associations with that word, but we can choose there's there is greater freedom when we have that. Yeah, And I think maybe even need to use a different word, Like I think wealth sometimes pushes a lot of us off, pushes away because like I'm not wealthy. I'm not a millionaire. I don't have twelve houses and a boat and all these things. And so maybe we just need to use a different world where instead of saying protecting your wealth, maybe just say protecting the things that you work hard for. What are the things in your life that you have spent time working hard for, one of the things that you put your time and effort and use of your life into that you would like to protect and make sure go to your family or the family that you wanted to go to, or who do you want to look after your your kids or your even your pets, Like these are things that like they may not be wealth in the general sense of you know what we think of you know, Jeff Bezos out there, you know, owning everything, or Bill Gates or you know all these Elon Musk all these people who we who we think of as wealthy. Yes, they have different things they have to worry about them that we do, like hopefully world hunger, hopefully that yeah, exactly, Hopefully they're other things other than all the money they have that they're worried about. But there's still things that important us as regular everyday people that we should you know, think of as things we want to protect and things we care about, and these people we care about our lives. So it's like maybe that's always the hurdle went to get over. It's like when we stay protecting wealth is not protecting millions of dollars, it's just protecting your own personal your personal wealth, and that the things that you've accumulated, things you've worked hard for, that you want to uh make sure you go where you want. Yeah, and I think it's kind to the people around you, right, Like we might hope that certain people get certain things. But back to your point, if we don't specify that, you know, if we're thinking like end of life stuff, which might not even need to go that far with it, but that's something we need to think about. If we don't specify that, someone else will consider that for us. And that's not always the most kind or loving thing to those who we've invested in most we value most. I mean I will often not often, it's probably too revealing, but I have throughout the years made jokes like here I go on road trip. If anything happens to me, like you get my clothes, you can have my CD player, And it's like funny because yeah, that's all I actually have to give, and there wasn't anything like notarized saying that it would go to them and no one I would actually want it. But that as we start to like invest in people and and collect some of these things that we can pass on, yeah, making sure that we have a good plan in place for that. Yeah, I love that reframe is tecting the things that you've worked hard for, like paying off debt, controlling your spending, earning more. Those are difficult things when you do them right, and so you want to protect the fruit of that labor, whatever it is, even if you are just starting out and there's just a little bit, because the earlier you think about it, the easier it is. When you get to be Jeff Bezos, which hopefully you will, I don't know, then it's very complex and much harder. But when you put some things in place, now it's so easy. Yeah, that was great. I love reframing it as protect the things you work hard for, like because that's really what we're trying to do and not even like thinking of it morbidly like after we pass. But like if you travel and or want to travel eventually, or you live across the country from maybe where your parents are and you're unmarried, like having kind of like some kind of legal forms, some kind of protection is really good in case you get in an accent you need to you know, you want somebody to be able to access your medical records or your financials, you know, while you may be incapacitated for a little while. Like it just protects you walk your living life and doing whatever you want. It's just wisdom. It's like backing up your files onto a hard drive. You definitely want to do it, Yeah, you don't want you don't want to do it, and you put it off for so long until you lose everything and you're so pissed that you didn't do it. But if you just if you take the hour and do it, then you never have to think about it again, so until the next time you gotta read back everything up. Yeah. Yeah, but you know that's very It's not even every year, it's just like occasionally. Uh So Yeah, we definitely we love this and this talk in particular, it was sponsored by our lovely sponsored Trust and Will, who is actually doing a Q and A with us about this stuff on our closing happy hours. So we're super excited to have them. Anytime we get experts on to kind of dive deeper into topics with us especially, and we rarely get to do live Q and a s so this is a rare treat for us. And something is kind of an experiment that we may do in the future, but we're experimenting with it now. So definitely, if you are planning to attend our happy hours anyway on the very last night, um trust him Will will be there, but Chris and the three of us talk about more to injible things we can do later in the interview to protect those things. Definitely, if you are debt free or on the way to being debt free and looking forward to what's on the other side. This is going to be one that you want to hear in its entirety. Yes, so excited, and you're making it sounds so fun to be ours. I mean, it's not frugal friends. If it's not fun, you know, I mean, you can really tell if if you're being scammed or not. If it's fun, it's frugal friends, it's not, it's probably not us. So in case you're you get a scam email from us, it's fun and it's friendship. Otherwise it's not us. We're never going to ask you for your credit card information or to wire information. But there is another question we might ask you, and that we did ask every single speaker the bill Love though week. That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's bills, Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton. This is the bill of the week. So we are going to share with you my pick for my favorite bill of the week from the summit, and I don't know if it was the best, but it is definitely the one that stands out in my mind the most, probably just because it's the one I listened to most recently. But this is from Elizabeth Willard Thames, better known as Mrs Frugal Woods, and she shares with us her bill of the week. Oh, I'm gonna do this to you again. It's going to be a duck bill again because I'm sorry, listen, this is like the most pressing thing in my life. I have the same bill every time somebody asked, yeah, I do what's your bill? Bill? Don't which I said several times during this time from Curtis from Weight Weight, don't tell me. Yeah, it's like a big bill times nobody knows. Every time I say it, nobody knows. And I was like, he's a narrator from Anchorman, Hello, and we're all the way don't tell me. But not as many people know it still Curtis listen Free Entertainment NPR podcast, Hello, Like, why are you paying for it? I did pay money once to go sit in a live taping. Oh I would pay for that for sure. You did do that, No doubt that would be so fun. It was tell us about the duck bill though, Oh yeah, the duck bill. We've got ducks living at our pond again. They came back. I think it's amazing pair. So they like see where they quarantining too, I guess so well, I mean they leave for the winter. But yeah, so we've got two geese and two mallards just like swimming around the pond. So I'm I'm very optimistic that they'll stay and maybe they'll have col babies. Oh my gosh, baby ducks. Baby, play some music down there for them, you know, encourage the mating. I don't want to send some Like if you pet tomatoes, why not play music for ducks. Ducks will be like, oh, we are leaving. This is not appropriate for ducks. Your next book is definitely about homesteading. I pet my tomatoes while I'm playing my sexy ducks petting tomatoes thing. That is a legit thing. Okay, I'm not any garden books, I believe. I mean, I have seen it. You are not the only person I've heard that from. I know that that is a thing. Oh man, Jenn, I see why this was your favorite. I mean, sexy duck music. It's just an unusual bill of the week, and I think we just gravitate towards those with the unusual stuff. Yeah, I mean Juckies. That's in our theme song, and well it will never get over it. You can never not impress me with a duck bill. If you want to impress Jen with your bill of the week again, whether it's duck bills or anything else. But I guess bonus points of the duck bill. Visit Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash bill, leave us your bill. We're excited to hear it. Yes, and now it's time for the learning role. That's one sound you won't hear at the summit from what I know. Whether you love it or you hate it, there's a reason to go to the summit. I mean, if you love it, we can make it happen. If you don't, then it doesn't have to happen. Yeah. So for today's Lightning Around, we wanted to talk about what we want people to take away from the future of frugal summits. What's your part behind it? Mm hmmm, well less serious hype? Can people take hype away? I just want to get hyped hyurn, sense of hypeness, turn up and get with us, because I just feel like, even online, there's just gonna be so much energy, so many ideas, so many friends, so much frugality, and also so on the more serious side community, I want people to be able to walk away with new friends, form deeper bonds with the old friends. I've got so many lofty goals and I really really hope and I believe that this will happen, that people are introduced to new concepts that maybe they've not engaged with. Even Like if people are solely frugal friends podcast listeners and we are the only personal finance podcast that people listen to, that's great. But I think introducing to some new ideas that bring about freedom and new perspectives, it's not just our voices, but the voices of others within this community, And yeah, fine, permission to create a future of frugality that works for us. I think that is probably the ultimate goal. New ideas, new perspectives being taken away and then built upon. Awesome. Yeah all those things for me too? Yeah, Jen, what are your thoughts? So first and foremost for me, alway is is for better for worse is actionable strategies. So when I go to something like this. I have been to a lot of online summits and and most of them are for business owners, which business owners on the internet are kind of more or less just selling to people, and so the summits I've been to in the past, it's really just like thirty minute pitch fests. So that is what I didn't want. So you'll find that all but two of the the sessions are interviews, and so we're kind of in control of the narrative and so we kind of control it to where we know you guys are and what you will want to hear so that you get the most benefit from it, and the information is can be most actionable to you. So I really want everyone to leave not even listening to all twenty sessions. I don't know if that's possible. There's a lot, but we wanted there to be something for everyone depending on where you are in the journey and what you're prioritizing, and then the ones you do listen to, taking away maybe not even an actionable strategy from every single one, but there should be some things that stick out to you from several that you can take with you and implement quickly. So that's kind of my first hope is that, but then also just a love and a passion for frugality like we have, like when we sit here across the computer screen from each other, we obviously have a lot of fun, but we're also like very passionate about what this lifestyle can do for people, and we know it's not the solution. There are so many things people talk about in personal finance as being the quote unquote solution, but they are really tools. I mean, we believe frugality borders on if any if there was a solution for anything, frugality would come close to it in my opinion, And obviously not everybody feels that way, but I am just so passionate that that is the truth, and that if people could love frugality as much as we do, that we could see less overwhelmed, less stress less clutter less global and environmental impact from over consumption and over production, that we could care more about the people around us because we're being intentional about people in general. So there's just so many little things that can trickle over from this core lifestyle. And it won't all come out from four days, we know that, but it can start here. And if it starts here. Then I feel like we've done it. I feel like we've done it, like what we can set out to do. It's so beautiful. I like that question. I'm glad that we explored that because your face people can't see it on the podcast, is like literally lighting up. And if you want to see John's face actually light up, definitely go to the Summit because all of these interviews just brought it out in all of us. If you want to know what it's like to be Jill watching me talk with my hands and get really into things, watch watch at least one of the videos, because I do I definitely don't talk with my hands and conversations, but when I'm podcasting or doing interviews, like my hands are like at least one of them. They're going everywhere up in there. And if you want to see my token lioness and cub photo that I always have in the background of my staple for me. For me, it's a staple of the Summit, the Lioness. It's grounding strong femininity. That's it. Oh well, folks, thanks so much for listening to this podcast episode. Thanks so much for registering at Vigoal Living Summit dot com for the Summit to join us even more because we just wanted to spend more time with you. So please come spend more time with us, and thank you for your kind Reviews on iTunes and Stitcher like this one from Mick Chicks Go titled Love Jen and Jill happens to be five stars and says, Wow, this podcast accomplishes the impossible, talking about finances and making me feel motivated. I always love Jen and Jill's content and their friendship is so lovely to listen to as well. Already can't wait for the next episode. Oh, I might cry. I love it. We love your friendship is lovely to listen to. I mean, it's lovely to interact with. I was glad. It's it's a privilege to be friends. Usually that translates to annoying it. I'll take lovely. We also want to thank our friends who share these episodes on social media. So when you share the latest episode and tag us on Facebook or Instagram or even tag like, tag us and share the summit. If you've already registered and you want to share the summit, we're gonna be posting. We're gonna be posting graphics in there for you to share on social media, so if you do when you tag us, that counts too, and we are giving away a copy of the either Frugal Friends Workbook or all access pass to the Summit for every five tags and reviews we get this month, just the month of July, So get in on that because there's a lot of opportunity to get some cool stuff. So keep leaving us reviews on iTunes or Stitcher and sending the screenshot Frugal Friends Podcasts at gmail dot com. Don't forget to attack us on social Sheriff Summit all the things. We'll see you next week. Hi. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. It's gonna be good, Jen, It's gonna be real good. I am already hyped, So I've already met your expectations. As long as you and I are hyped, that goal has been met. Yeah. Um, And if you're listening to this on the day it releases, which this is probably the latest we've ever done an episode. We typically do not do these episodes the week they come out. Spoiler alert. We are doing this one though. We're gonna be on a boat. Yeah, yes, together, We're gonna be on a boat. Celebrating our neighbors, our neighbor's birthday. That is social capital mean any capital right there. That's that. That is that celebrating on a boat together because he has a boat membership, making the effort to know your neighbors, yep, and living in an environmentally cool place where you can be on a boat on the water. Right. They're also getting a swim spot which I've also been invited to. It's a hot tub on steroids, so that too. But yeah, social capital, y'all head to the future Frugal Summit and listen more and you know we'll talk about building it. Frugal Living Summit dot com